Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Earthquake!

About 3 miles from me was another earthquake on Sunday. I heard this one measured 2.6. I didn’t feel it. The dogs didn’t howl either. One person reported a crack in the foundation of their house. Another reported a broken window. Until 2 weeks ago, the last earthquake in this area was 10 years ago. But in 2 weeks there’s been 2 earthquakes.

Geologists are telling people that these little tremors—the first was a 2.0—don’t mean a "big one" is imminent. Locally, people aren’t ready to agree. The second one was stronger than the first, so these might be "foreshocks." An "aftershock" is always weaker than the main earthquake. People are reporting hearing a loud boom coming from underground that is soon followed by a tremor. It’s because of the "boom" that people called the police, thinking it was an explosion or a dynamite blast.

There is supposed to be what’s been described as a "small" fault line through the area, somewhere. No one, not even the experts know exactly where. It doesn’t even have a name, so far as I’ve been able to learn. The geologists estimate the quakes are about 5 kilometers below the surface. Unlike in California, the rocks in this area are old and cold and rigid, so they don’t really cut loose very often. There hasn’t been a really big quake in the eastern U.S. for the past 100 years. That one was impressive, though—an 8.0 that was felt 500 miles away. In this area, the last "big" one was somewhere between a 4 and a 5 in 1988. I didn’t feel that one either. That's probably a good thing.

there is a fault line running through Arkansas where our cabin is. The insurance man thought I was crazy when I asked for earthquake coverage on my policy. It is cheap since there hasn't been a quake there in a long time, or maybe never. You might want to check your coverage too.

Earthquakes are scary and you'd think I'd be more used to them living in California my entire life. A quake could happen at midnight and I still can jump out of bed in a flash and hit the doorway in a split second - surely a reaction from having this drilled into my head since I was a wee-one. It's unnerving even when you're fairly used to them. :-/

About Me

I live in a cabin in the forests of Pennsylvania. I write about what I see and do in the natural world around me. I've been a hawkwatcher for more than 20 years, a birder for longer than that, and a crayfish-catcher since I was a polywog.